The Hero Who Returned From Death Quits - Chapter 182



EP9. ■■

The elders faced each other. They were all different in appearance and gender, but their goal was the same.

They were all determined to give up their lives solely for the survival of humanity.

“…Really, do you have no regrets?”

Beatrice asked. To be honest, it was true that she had a negative view of the Senate after reading the records. However, even so, they were also the ones who treated her as a daughter when she was young and became a saint. She couldn’t help but ask because she couldn’t understand how the elders could die like this.

“I have no regrets. I shouldn’t have. Those who were considered elders among the servants of God and walked around with their shoulders held high were of no help in dealing with the Demon King. Do I have the right to feel regret? I only hope that this one life will be of help in defeating the Demon King.”

“…Is that so? If that’s the case, then I guess I can’t say anything more.”

“Don’t look so sad. It’s just the way it is. Besides, we’re not committing suicide.”

“…”

The elder who said that looked up at the sky for a moment and then said.

“All we do is return to our God, to the Light, first. So don’t be sad. Someday, we will all die and be embraced by God, and there is nothing special to think about if that happens a little sooner.”

“…Even so.”

The instinct of a living being cannot be ignored. No matter who it is, those who have never experienced death do not want to die. Even those who are driven to the limit and say outwardly that they want to die, inside everyone is afraid of death.

That is why, knowing this, Beatrice felt uncomfortable watching them calmly accept her death. Somehow, her chest felt heavy and blocked.

“Say no more. The reason I fear death is because I do not know what will come after. I am sure that God will be with me at the end, so I have nothing to fear. Besides, if I say more and add unnecessary details, if my death becomes a kind of martyrdom where I sacrifice my own life, it will be unclean.”

“What do you mean?”

“It means what it says. What we have now is only the atonement of the old people who were of no help. It shouldn’t become something grand, like martyrdom or something. We don’t want that. If we give it a grand name, it will become impure, and if it’s impure, we’ll be afraid.”

“okay.”

“Now, let’s get started. The sooner we can deal with the Demon King, the better.”

“Yes… I understand.”

The elders stood in the place where numerous sacred relics were piled up. Beatrice activated the spell she had previously engraved there.

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She closed her eyes.

“Mother of all things, with your light, comfort the young birds struggling in pain, the hearts of the weak…”

The light began to shine brightly.

“…save me from darkness.”

The light illuminated the elders standing with the holy relics. Without a single gap, the light enveloped them all.

Finally, as their shadows disappeared and the light completely engulfed their forms, the bodies of the elders began to move beyond the light.

…

“…here.”

The elders opened their eyes. It was a space filled with light and joy. They realized that this was the end of the salvation they had longed for.

[Come, my children.]

“sighe.”

The elders were speechless at the voices that surrounded them. They were only overwhelmed by emotion and joy, and felt tears of joy running down their cheeks.

“My, my God.”

[Yes, I am here.]

“Thank you, thank you.”

What are you grateful for?

These are the people who gave their lives for their beliefs. What are they thankful for?

The elders were simply grateful for the existence of God, the salvation they had sought throughout their lives.

[…Don’t you regret it?]

“I have no regrets. I just hope… that these old men’s lives were put to good use.”

[…I guarantee it. Your lives were valuable.]

“If that’s the case, that’s enough.”

The Goddess of Light had taken their souls. Now their souls would receive the salvation they longed for, and enjoy joy in her arms.

And then, the goddess took their souls and looked aside.

Angels, dragons, humans, they were all inferior to her. Children and ants… no, the gap between them was even bigger, a completely different level, and no matter how hard she tried, she could only look down on them. There were only two things she could look at when she turned her head to the side.

[…It’s you.]

The being said nothing, but simply snapped its fingers.

The white world that had been filled with light was engulfed in darkness. And then, only then did the figure of the Goddess of Light appear.

White, white, white… A splendid goddess so white that it seemed as if even if all the light in the world were gathered together, it would not be able to reach even a single drop of that light, was scattering her radiance in the darkness.

[…]

[Aren’t you going to respond?]

[…]

[It’s sad.]

[…Do you think you can save Middle-earth by doing that?]

[Well, maybe it will. Maybe it won’t.]

[The monopoly on the ‘Warrior’ is over. Now, the balance will be on my side, just as much as you have enjoyed, if not more.]

[…I still believe. All of our children…]

[gibberish.]

The being instantly dismissed the voice of the goddess.

[No matter what you do, once the balance is broken, it cannot be restored. So, all that remains is to put the balance in my hands.]

[Even so…]

[Don’t act so hypocritical. Okay, let’s kill all your children in Middle-earth and see if they still say that.]

At the same time, a strong light shot out. It was clearly a sign of anger. The being laughed. Even if only the aftereffects of that light were to be shot, the entire Middle-earth would disappear from existence.

[See. Your nature is the same as mine. No matter how pretentious you are, nothing will change. In the end, you fight for the results you want. Just like you always have.]

[…the face.]

The being laughed even louder when the Goddess of Light heard her truly angry voice. It was also very amusing to see her get so annoyed.

[Shouldn’t we at least talk while looking at each other’s faces?]

With those words, the darkness that had enveloped existence was instantly stripped away by light.

The being took on the exact opposite appearance of the Goddess of Light. It was a woman with pale skin and striking black hair, darker than all the darkness in the world combined.

[…Little brother.]

The Goddess of Darkness looked at the wrist held by the Goddess of Light.

Her wrist was lightly crushed, and in an instant it shattered like a cracked plaster statue.

And the wrist was completely intact, without even a trace of having been broken.

[Aren’t you holding it too tightly? It hurts.]

The Goddess of Darkness was still smiling. On the contrary, the Goddess of Light had a stiff expression.

[Don’t joke around.]

The Dark Goddess shrugged her shoulders. As expected, no matter how much she pretended, she seemed to be nervous inside.

[…ha.]

In the end, the Goddess of Light sighed first. It was inevitable. After arguing, she lost control of her anger and lightly touched her younger brother, or rather, tried to touch him, and the universe had to start over from the beginning. Even when she was in a favorable situation.

My brother was always like that. Rather than accept his defeat, he chose to turn the table over. In this way, several universes could not develop any further and ended their story in the form of a primitive universe.

But this time, it couldn’t be like that. Wasn’t it the first universe that had affection for its creations and made a pact to limit its power so as not to erase the beings of the lower realm? Now, this light-hearted prank had become important. The reason my brother’s personality became like that was because this universe was special.

Eventually, the Goddess of Light decided not to deal with her sister any longer. She decided to continue looking at Middle-earth.

…

After the light engulfed the relics and the elders, I was finally able to open my eyes.

It was because the light had just begun to dim. And I could tell as soon as I opened my eyes.

The ritual was a success.

The being before my eyes was one that anyone could recognize at a glance.

“Archangel Idrisiel.”

The being slammed its spear against the ground once and then continued speaking.

“I came here in response to the summons.”